diff --git a/api-ref/source/conf.py b/api-ref/source/conf.py
index df8098e4b..33109436c 100644
--- a/api-ref/source/conf.py
+++ b/api-ref/source/conf.py
@@ -59,8 +59,8 @@ source_suffix = '.rst'
 master_doc = 'index'
 
 # General information about the project.
-project = u'Designate API Reference'
-copyright = u'OpenStack Foundation'
+project = 'Designate API Reference'
+copyright = 'OpenStack Foundation'
 
 # openstackdocstheme options
 openstackdocs_repo_name = 'openstack/designate'
@@ -100,7 +100,7 @@ pygments_style = 'native'
 # -- Options for man page output ----------------------------------------------
 
 # Grouping the document tree for man pages.
-# List of tuples 'sourcefile', 'target', u'title', u'Authors name', 'manual'
+# List of tuples 'sourcefile', 'target', 'title', 'Authors name', 'manual'
 
 
 # -- Options for HTML output --------------------------------------------------
@@ -186,8 +186,8 @@ htmlhelp_basename = 'designatedoc'
 # (source start file, target name, title, author, documentclass
 # [howto/manual]).
 latex_documents = [
-    ('index', 'Designate.tex', u'OpenStack DNS API Documentation',
-     u'OpenStack Foundation', 'manual'),
+    ('index', 'Designate.tex', 'OpenStack DNS API Documentation',
+     'OpenStack Foundation', 'manual'),
 ]
 
 # The name of an image file (relative to this directory) to place at the top of
diff --git a/designate/network_api/fake.py b/designate/network_api/fake.py
index 58b752f98..2fbf2b93a 100644
--- a/designate/network_api/fake.py
+++ b/designate/network_api/fake.py
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ ALLOCATIONS = {}
 
 def _format_floatingip(id_, address):
     return {
-        'region': u'RegionOne',
+        'region': 'RegionOne',
         'address': address,
         'id': id_
     }
diff --git a/designate/resources/templates/dnsmasq-zone.jinja2 b/designate/resources/templates/dnsmasq-zone.jinja2
index ebf362419..9b4783ca3 100644
--- a/designate/resources/templates/dnsmasq-zone.jinja2
+++ b/designate/resources/templates/dnsmasq-zone.jinja2
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 # Example input:
-# {u'mail.example.com.': {u'A': [u'192.0.2.1', u'192.0.2.2']}, u'www.example.com.': {u'A': [u'192.0.2.1', u'192.0.2.2']}}
+# {'mail.example.com.': {'A': ['192.0.2.1', '192.0.2.2']}, 'www.example.com.': {'A': ['192.0.2.1', '192.0.2.2']}}
 {% for name in template_data -%}
 {% for rdtype in template_data[name] -%}
 # RecordSet: {{name}} / {{rdtype}}
diff --git a/designate/tests/__init__.py b/designate/tests/__init__.py
index a6400fbe2..c30578085 100644
--- a/designate/tests/__init__.py
+++ b/designate/tests/__init__.py
@@ -221,7 +221,7 @@ class TestCase(base.BaseTestCase):
 
     blacklist_fixtures = [{
         'pattern': 'blacklisted.com.',
-        'description': u'This is a comment',
+        'description': 'This is a comment',
     }, {
         'pattern': 'blacklisted.net.'
     }, {
@@ -230,13 +230,13 @@ class TestCase(base.BaseTestCase):
 
     pool_fixtures = [
         {'name': 'Pool-One',
-         'description': u'Pool-One description',
+         'description': 'Pool-One description',
          'attributes': [{'key': 'scope', 'value': 'public'}],
          'ns_records': [{'priority': 1, 'hostname': 'ns1.example.org.'},
                         {'priority': 2, 'hostname': 'ns2.example.org.'}]},
 
         {'name': 'Pool-Two',
-         'description': u'Pool-Two description',
+         'description': 'Pool-Two description',
          'attributes': [{'key': 'scope', 'value': 'public'}],
          'ns_records': [{'priority': 1, 'hostname': 'ns1.example.org.'}]},
     ]
@@ -268,10 +268,10 @@ class TestCase(base.BaseTestCase):
     pool_target_fixtures = [
         {'pool_id': default_pool_id,
          'type': "fake",
-         'description': u"FooBar"},
+         'description': "FooBar"},
         {'pool_id': default_pool_id,
          'type': "fake",
-         'description': u"BarFoo"},
+         'description': "BarFoo"},
     ]
 
     pool_also_notify_fixtures = [
@@ -421,7 +421,7 @@ class TestCase(base.BaseTestCase):
         ])
 
         pool.targets = objects.PoolTargetList.from_list([
-            {'type': 'fake', u'description': u"Fake PoolTarget for Tests"}
+            {'type': 'fake', 'description': "Fake PoolTarget for Tests"}
         ])
 
         # Save the default pool
diff --git a/designate/tests/test_api/test_v2/test_blacklists.py b/designate/tests/test_api/test_v2/test_blacklists.py
index 0677b7e17..f42778a66 100644
--- a/designate/tests/test_api/test_v2/test_blacklists.py
+++ b/designate/tests/test_api/test_v2/test_blacklists.py
@@ -169,7 +169,7 @@ class ApiV2BlacklistsTest(ApiV2TestCase):
     def test_create_invalid_denylist_pattern(self):
         self.policy({'create_blacklist': '@'})
         body = {
-            'description': u'This is the description.'
+            'description': 'This is the description.'
         }
 
         url = '/blacklists/'
diff --git a/designate/tests/test_central/test_service.py b/designate/tests/test_central/test_service.py
index 1a729acf4..537a3aa6b 100644
--- a/designate/tests/test_central/test_service.py
+++ b/designate/tests/test_central/test_service.py
@@ -2488,7 +2488,7 @@ class CentralServiceTest(CentralTestCase):
         blacklist = self.create_blacklist(fixture=0)
 
         # Update the Object
-        blacklist.description = u"New Comment"
+        blacklist.description = 'New Comment'
 
         # Perform the update
         self.central_service.update_blacklist(self.admin_context, blacklist)
@@ -2498,7 +2498,7 @@ class CentralServiceTest(CentralTestCase):
                                                        blacklist.id)
 
         # Verify that the record was updated correctly
-        self.assertEqual(u"New Comment", blacklist.description)
+        self.assertEqual('New Comment', blacklist.description)
 
     def test_delete_blacklist(self):
         # Create a blacklisted zone
@@ -2691,14 +2691,14 @@ class CentralServiceTest(CentralTestCase):
         pool = self.create_pool(fixture=0)
 
         # Update and save the pool
-        pool.description = u'New Comment'
+        pool.description = 'New Comment'
         self.central_service.update_pool(self.admin_context, pool)
 
         # Fetch the pool
         pool = self.central_service.get_pool(self.admin_context, pool.id)
 
         # Verify that the pool was updated correctly
-        self.assertEqual(u"New Comment", pool.description)
+        self.assertEqual('New Comment', pool.description)
 
     def test_update_pool_add_ns_record(self):
         # Create a server pool and 3 zones
diff --git a/designate/tests/test_notification_handler/test_nova.py b/designate/tests/test_notification_handler/test_nova.py
index b17751538..367bde030 100644
--- a/designate/tests/test_notification_handler/test_nova.py
+++ b/designate/tests/test_notification_handler/test_nova.py
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ class NovaFixedHandlerTest(TestCase, NotificationHandlerMixin):
         fixture = self.get_notification_fixture('nova', event_type)
 
         # Set the instance display_name to a string containing UTF8.
-        fixture['payload']['display_name'] = u'Test↟Instance'
+        fixture['payload']['display_name'] = 'Test↟Instance'
 
         self.assertIn(event_type, self.plugin.get_event_types())
 
diff --git a/designate/tests/test_storage/__init__.py b/designate/tests/test_storage/__init__.py
index 8527dae70..993c3e930 100644
--- a/designate/tests/test_storage/__init__.py
+++ b/designate/tests/test_storage/__init__.py
@@ -1686,7 +1686,7 @@ class StorageTestCase(object):
     def test_create_blacklist(self):
         values = {
             'pattern': "^([A-Za-z0-9_\\-]+\\.)*example\\.com\\.$",
-            'description': u"This is a comment."
+            'description': 'This is a comment.'
         }
 
         result = self.storage.create_blacklist(
@@ -1861,7 +1861,7 @@ class StorageTestCase(object):
             'nameservers': [{'host': "192.0.2.1", 'port': 53}],
             'targets': [{
                 'type': "fake",
-                'description': u"FooBar",
+                'description': 'FooBar',
                 'masters': [{'host': "192.0.2.2",
                              'port': DEFAULT_MDNS_PORT}],
                 'options': [{'key': 'fake_option', 'value': 'fake_value'}],
@@ -2021,7 +2021,7 @@ class StorageTestCase(object):
             'nameservers': [{'host': "192.0.2.1", 'port': 53}],
             'targets': [{
                 'type': "fake",
-                'description': u"FooBar",
+                'description': 'FooBar',
                 'masters': [{'host': "192.0.2.2",
                              'port': DEFAULT_MDNS_PORT}],
                 'options': [{'key': 'fake_option', 'value': 'fake_value'}],
@@ -2046,13 +2046,13 @@ class StorageTestCase(object):
             'nameservers': [{'host': "192.0.2.5", 'port': 53}],
             'targets': [{
                 'type': "fake",
-                'description': u"NewFooBar",
+                'description': 'NewFooBar',
                 'masters': [{'host': "192.0.2.2",
                              'port': DEFAULT_MDNS_PORT}],
                 'options': [{'key': 'fake_option', 'value': 'fake_value'}],
             }, {
                 'type': "fake",
-                'description': u"FooBar2",
+                'description': 'FooBar2',
                 'masters': [{'host': "192.0.2.7", 'port': 5355}],
                 'options': [{'key': 'fake_option', 'value': 'new_fake_value'}],
             }],
@@ -2598,7 +2598,8 @@ class StorageTestCase(object):
 
         expected = self.create_pool_target(pool, fixture=0)
 
-        criterion = dict(description=expected['description'] + u"NOT FOUND")
+        criterion = dict(description=expected['description'] + ''
+                                                               'NOT FOUND')
 
         with testtools.ExpectedException(exceptions.PoolTargetNotFound):
             self.storage.find_pool_target(self.admin_context, criterion)
diff --git a/designate/tests/unit/backend/test_akamai_v2.py b/designate/tests/unit/backend/test_akamai_v2.py
index 3563069e4..4725ff703 100644
--- a/designate/tests/unit/backend/test_akamai_v2.py
+++ b/designate/tests/unit/backend/test_akamai_v2.py
@@ -109,7 +109,7 @@ class AkamaiBackendTestCase(oslotest.base.BaseTestCase):
             json={
                 'comment': 'Created by Designate for Tenant %s' % project_id,
                 'masters': ['192.168.1.1', '192.168.1.2'],
-                'type': 'secondary', 'zone': u'example.com.'
+                'type': 'secondary', 'zone': 'example.com.'
             },
             params={
                 'gid': '777',
@@ -140,7 +140,7 @@ class AkamaiBackendTestCase(oslotest.base.BaseTestCase):
             json={
                 'comment': 'Created by Designate for Tenant %s' % project_id,
                 'masters': ['192.168.1.1', '192.168.1.2'],
-                'type': 'secondary', 'zone': u'example.com.'
+                'type': 'secondary', 'zone': 'example.com.'
             },
             params={
                 'gid': '777',
@@ -450,12 +450,12 @@ class AkamaiBackendTestCase(oslotest.base.BaseTestCase):
 
         mock_post.assert_has_calls([
             mock.call(
-                json={'zones': [u'example.com.']},
+                json={'zones': ['example.com.']},
                 params={'force': True},
                 url='https://host_value/config-dns/v2/zones/delete-requests'
             ),
             mock.call(
-                json={'zones': [u'example.com.']},
+                json={'zones': ['example.com.']},
                 params={'force': False},
                 url='https://host_value/config-dns/v2/zones/delete-requests'
             )
@@ -489,12 +489,12 @@ class AkamaiBackendTestCase(oslotest.base.BaseTestCase):
 
         mock_post.assert_has_calls([
             mock.call(
-                json={'zones': [u'example.com.']},
+                json={'zones': ['example.com.']},
                 params={'force': True},
                 url='https://host_value/config-dns/v2/zones/delete-requests'
             ),
             mock.call(
-                json={'zones': [u'example.com.']},
+                json={'zones': ['example.com.']},
                 params={'force': False},
                 url='https://host_value/config-dns/v2/zones/delete-requests'
             )
diff --git a/designate/tests/unit/backend/test_ns1.py b/designate/tests/unit/backend/test_ns1.py
index 76708c309..09477e6aa 100644
--- a/designate/tests/unit/backend/test_ns1.py
+++ b/designate/tests/unit/backend/test_ns1.py
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ class NS1BackendTestCase(oslotest.base.BaseTestCase):
             ],
         }
         self.put_request_json = {
-            'zone': u'example.com',
+            'zone': 'example.com',
             'secondary': {
                 'enabled': True,
                 'primary_ip': '192.0.2.1',
@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@ class NS1BackendTestCase(oslotest.base.BaseTestCase):
             }
         }
         self.put_request_tsig_json = {
-            'zone': u'example.com',
+            'zone': 'example.com',
             'secondary': {
                 'enabled': True,
                 'primary_ip': '192.0.2.1',
diff --git a/designate/tests/unit/backend/test_pdns4.py b/designate/tests/unit/backend/test_pdns4.py
index c5d7baa96..683f3c0c2 100644
--- a/designate/tests/unit/backend/test_pdns4.py
+++ b/designate/tests/unit/backend/test_pdns4.py
@@ -72,9 +72,9 @@ class PDNS4BackendTestCase(oslotest.base.BaseTestCase):
         self.assertEqual(
             req_mock.last_request.json(),
             {
-                'kind': u'slave',
+                'kind': 'slave',
                 'masters': ['192.0.2.1:53', '192.0.2.2:35'],
-                'name': u'example.com.',
+                'name': 'example.com.',
             }
         )
 
@@ -105,9 +105,9 @@ class PDNS4BackendTestCase(oslotest.base.BaseTestCase):
         self.assertEqual(
             req_mock.last_request.json(),
             {
-                'kind': u'slave',
+                'kind': 'slave',
                 'masters': ['[2001:db8::9abc]:53'],
-                'name': u'example.com.',
+                'name': 'example.com.',
             }
         )
 
@@ -133,9 +133,9 @@ class PDNS4BackendTestCase(oslotest.base.BaseTestCase):
         self.assertEqual(
             req_mock.last_request.json(),
             {
-                'kind': u'slave',
+                'kind': 'slave',
                 'masters': ['192.0.2.1:53', '192.0.2.2:35'],
-                'name': u'example.com.',
+                'name': 'example.com.',
             }
         )
 
@@ -204,9 +204,9 @@ class PDNS4BackendTestCase(oslotest.base.BaseTestCase):
         self.assertEqual(
             req_mock.last_request.json(),
             {
-                'kind': u'slave',
+                'kind': 'slave',
                 'masters': ['192.0.2.1:53', '192.0.2.2:35'],
-                'name': u'example.com.',
+                'name': 'example.com.',
                 'slave_tsig_key_ids': ['tsig_key'],
             }
         )
diff --git a/designate/tests/unit/objects/test_yaml_adapters.py b/designate/tests/unit/objects/test_yaml_adapters.py
index 532798a02..4619b15ff 100644
--- a/designate/tests/unit/objects/test_yaml_adapters.py
+++ b/designate/tests/unit/objects/test_yaml_adapters.py
@@ -73,64 +73,64 @@ class DesignateYAMLAdapterTest(oslotest.base.BaseTestCase):
         pool_dict = {
             'also_notifies': [
                 {
-                    'host': u'192.0.2.4',
-                    'pool_id': u'cf2e8eab-76cd-4162-bf76-8aeee3556de0',
+                    'host': '192.0.2.4',
+                    'pool_id': 'cf2e8eab-76cd-4162-bf76-8aeee3556de0',
                     'port': 53,
                 }
             ],
             'attributes': [],
-            'description': u'Default PowerDNS 4 Pool',
-            'id': u'cf2e8eab-76cd-4162-bf76-8aeee3556de0',
-            'name': u'default',
+            'description': 'Default PowerDNS 4 Pool',
+            'id': 'cf2e8eab-76cd-4162-bf76-8aeee3556de0',
+            'name': 'default',
             'nameservers': [
                 {
-                    'host': u'192.0.2.2',
-                    'pool_id': u'cf2e8eab-76cd-4162-bf76-8aeee3556de0',
+                    'host': '192.0.2.2',
+                    'pool_id': 'cf2e8eab-76cd-4162-bf76-8aeee3556de0',
                     'port': 53,
                 },
                 {
-                    'host': u'192.0.2.3',
-                    'pool_id': u'cf2e8eab-76cd-4162-bf76-8aeee3556de0',
+                    'host': '192.0.2.3',
+                    'pool_id': 'cf2e8eab-76cd-4162-bf76-8aeee3556de0',
                     'port': 53,
                 }
             ],
             'ns_records': [
                 {
-                    'hostname': u'ns1-1.example.org.',
-                    'pool_id': u'cf2e8eab-76cd-4162-bf76-8aeee3556de0',
+                    'hostname': 'ns1-1.example.org.',
+                    'pool_id': 'cf2e8eab-76cd-4162-bf76-8aeee3556de0',
                     'priority': 1,
                 },
                 {
-                    'hostname': u'ns1-2.example.org.',
-                    'pool_id': u'cf2e8eab-76cd-4162-bf76-8aeee3556de0',
+                    'hostname': 'ns1-2.example.org.',
+                    'pool_id': 'cf2e8eab-76cd-4162-bf76-8aeee3556de0',
                     'priority': 2,
                 }
             ],
-            'provisioner': u'UNMANAGED',
+            'provisioner': 'UNMANAGED',
             'targets': [
                 {
-                    'description': u'PowerDNS 4 Server',
+                    'description': 'PowerDNS 4 Server',
                     'masters': [
                         {
-                            'host': u'192.0.2.1',
-                            'pool_target_id': u'd567d569-2d69-41d5-828d-f7054bb10b5c',  # noqa
+                            'host': '192.0.2.1',
+                            'pool_target_id': 'd567d569-2d69-41d5-828d-f7054bb10b5c',  # noqa
                             'port': DEFAULT_MDNS_PORT,
                         }
                     ],
                     'options': [
                         {
-                            'key': u'api_endpoint',
-                            'pool_target_id': u'd567d569-2d69-41d5-828d-f7054bb10b5c',  # noqa
-                            'value': u'http://192.0.2.1:8081',  # noqa
+                            'key': 'api_endpoint',
+                            'pool_target_id': 'd567d569-2d69-41d5-828d-f7054bb10b5c',  # noqa
+                            'value': 'http://192.0.2.1:8081',  # noqa
                         },
                         {
-                            'key': u'api_token',
-                            'pool_target_id': u'd567d569-2d69-41d5-828d-f7054bb10b5c',  # noqa
-                            'value': u'api_key',  # noqa
+                            'key': 'api_token',
+                            'pool_target_id': 'd567d569-2d69-41d5-828d-f7054bb10b5c',  # noqa
+                            'value': 'api_key',  # noqa
                         },
                     ],
-                    'pool_id': u'cf2e8eab-76cd-4162-bf76-8aeee3556de0',
-                    'type': u'pdns4',
+                    'pool_id': 'cf2e8eab-76cd-4162-bf76-8aeee3556de0',
+                    'type': 'pdns4',
                 }
             ]
         }
diff --git a/doc/source/conf.py b/doc/source/conf.py
index 4eb4c8762..112340e5e 100644
--- a/doc/source/conf.py
+++ b/doc/source/conf.py
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ source_suffix = '.rst'
 master_doc = 'index'
 
 # General information about the project.
-copyright = u'2012, Managed I.T.'
+copyright = '2012, Managed I.T.'
 
 # The language for content autogenerated by Sphinx. Refer to documentation
 # for a list of supported languages.
@@ -207,8 +207,8 @@ latex_elements = {
 # Grouping the document tree into LaTeX files. List of tuples
 # (source start file, target name, title, author, documentclass [howto/manual]).
 latex_documents = [
-  ('index', 'doc-designate.tex', u'Designate Documentation',
-   u'Designate Developers', 'manual'),
+  ('index', 'doc-designate.tex', 'Designate Documentation',
+   'Designate Developers', 'manual'),
 ]
 
 # The name of an image file (relative to this directory) to place at the top of
@@ -255,8 +255,8 @@ man_pages = [
 # (source start file, target name, title, author,
 #  dir menu entry, description, category)
 texinfo_documents = [
-  ('index', 'designate', u'Designate Documentation',
-   u'Managed I.T.', 'designate', 'One line description of project.',
+  ('index', 'designate', 'Designate Documentation',
+   'Managed I.T.', 'designate', 'One line description of project.',
    'Miscellaneous'),
 ]
 
diff --git a/releasenotes/source/conf.py b/releasenotes/source/conf.py
index f0dae8193..be01d9cdd 100644
--- a/releasenotes/source/conf.py
+++ b/releasenotes/source/conf.py
@@ -60,8 +60,8 @@ source_suffix = '.rst'
 master_doc = 'index'
 
 # General information about the project.
-project = u'Designate Release Notes'
-copyright = u'2015, Designate Developers'
+project = 'Designate Release Notes'
+copyright = '2015, Designate Developers'
 
 # Release notes are versions independent.
 # The short X.Y version.
@@ -212,9 +212,9 @@ latex_elements = {
 # (source start file, target name, title,
 #  author, documentclass [howto, manual, or own class]).
 latex_documents = [
-    ('index', 'DesignateReleaseNotes.tex', u'Designate Release Notes '
-     u'Documentation',
-     u'Designate Developers', 'manual'),
+    ('index', 'DesignateReleaseNotes.tex', 'Designate Release Notes '
+     'Documentation',
+     'Designate Developers', 'manual'),
 ]
 
 # The name of an image file (relative to this directory) to place at the top of
@@ -243,9 +243,9 @@ latex_documents = [
 # One entry per manual page. List of tuples
 # (source start file, name, description, authors, manual section).
 man_pages = [
-    ('index', 'designatereleasenotes', u'Designate Release Notes '
-                                       u'Documentation',
-     [u'Designate Developers'], 1)
+    ('index', 'designatereleasenotes', 'Designate Release Notes '
+                                       'Documentation',
+     ['Designate Developers'], 1)
 ]
 
 # If true, show URL addresses after external links.
@@ -258,9 +258,9 @@ man_pages = [
 # (source start file, target name, title, author,
 #  dir menu entry, description, category)
 texinfo_documents = [
-    ('index', 'DesignateReleaseNotes', u'Designate Release Notes '
-                                       u'Documentation',
-     u'Designate Developers', 'DesignateReleaseNotes',
+    ('index', 'DesignateReleaseNotes', 'Designate Release Notes '
+                                       'Documentation',
+     'Designate Developers', 'DesignateReleaseNotes',
      'One line description of project.',
      'Miscellaneous'),
 ]